Introduction: Earlier this year, Daiwa teased their ICAST 2013 introduction with a series of short tease videos broadcast on youTube. Simultaneously, they shipped us what we came to find out was a very late model prototype of that very reel, the Tatula, for a full blown review. Then, when all the hype was lifted, we find out at ICAST that there are two versions of this reel, the regular Tatula and the "tuned" Type R.

Introducing the Daiwa Tatula Type R.

Daiwa America Corporation has been leveraging this "Type R" designation of late to signify reels that perform beyond the ordinary. The Zillion Type R and PX68 Type R were the first to appear, and were both met with great fan fare by consumers. Actually, the Zillion Type R is my favorite USDM variant of the Zillion line although it now falls short of the recently introduced JD Dream Zillions in Japan. The PX68 Type R turned out to be a disappointment to me because aside from some cosmetic treatments, it was no different than its JDM counterpart. So, what's the story behind the Tatula Type R and it's $50 price increase over the baseline model? Is it really a tuned better version like the Zillion? Or is it simply another cosmetically enhanced replica of the original like the PX68 Type R? Let's find out.

Daiwa Tatula R100HL Specifications

Line Capacity - Rated

14/120, 16/100

Line Capacity - Spool Volume

17 cubic centimeters

Retrieve Ratio

6.3:1, 8.1:1

Inches Per Turn (IPT) - calculated

6.3:1 = 12" - 26.5"

8.:1 = 13.5" - 31"

Weight

7.7 oz

Spool Weight

16.17 grams

Bearings

7+1 (2 CR)

Tested Max Drag

~17 lbs

Origin

Made in Thailand

MSRP

$199.99

Quality/Construction: The only difference we can detect here, from the original Tatula is the reel's finish. The Tatula Type R is black instead of grey with red highlights instead of silver. The handle and sideplate tolerances are identical and the knobs really feel no different either.

Quality Ratings for Daiwa Tatula R100HL

Finish (1-5)

Frame & Sideplate Tolerance (1-5)

Handle Tolerance (1-5)

Knob Tolerance (1-5)

Total

Possible

Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)

5

5

4

4

18

20

9.0

Performance: To test the Tatula Type R out on the water, I matched it with a Megabass Destroyer F7-71X7 Aaron Martens rod and spooled the reel with fifty five pound Daiwa Samurai Braid topped with a 12 pound Seaguar Tatsu leader.

The Tatula Type R is available in two retrieve ratios, 6.3:1 and 8.1:1.

Retrieve: The Tatula Type R comes equipped with either a 6.3:1 or 8.1:1 retrieve ratio. This is one of the small distinctions from the standard Tatula reel which is also available in 6.3:1 but only in 7.3:1 for high speed and an additional 5.4:1 for low speed - although we've come to learn the low speed version is only going to be made in right hand retrieve.

There are only a couple of differences from the original Tatula, but the handle length is not one of them. The Type R also benefits from a 90mm handle.

Though we would have liked to have tested the 8.1:1 retrieve ratio reel, we were only able to put our hands on the 6.3:1 retrieve ratio Type R. There was no difference in the feel of this reel over the standard Tatula.

Performance Ratings for Daiwa Tatula R100HL

Retrieve (1-5)

Drag (1-5)

Power(1-5)

Casting Range (1-5)

Brakes (1-5)

Total

Possible

Rating (= Tot/Pos * 10)

4

4

4

5

4

21

25

8.4

Drag: Our Tatula Type R tested out at a maximum sustained drag pressure of seventeen (17) pounds. This is an even higher number than what we tested the standard Tatula's max drag to be earlier this year (16.13 pounds) yet the two reels share the same internals including the materials in their drag stacks. This is a good demonstration of how drag numbers can vary between reels.

Looking at the Tatula Type R's Sweet Performance Drag Chart below, you can see this reel is very smooth and consistent at the lower settings, but as you approach and hit full lock down, the drag becomes much more erratic. In our brief time with this reel, we were unable to hook into anything that would allow us to test the higher settings on this reel's drag out on the water, however, set at how we normally fish, the reel's drag performed
predictably smooth.

Fig 1. Above is our Sweet Drag Performance Chart for Daiwa's Tatula TypeR. In this chart you can see that at the higher settings, our test reel's drag performed a bit erratically, but at the lower settings (where we typically have our reels set during fishing), the reel performed just fine.

Power: The Tatula Type R is equipped with the same 90 millimeter length handle as that of it's non-Type-R counterpart. This handle length together with the same gearing material as the standard Tatula and no more extra bearings in the knobs give the Type-R the same feeling during retrieve in terms of smoothness and power as that of the standard Tatula.

The brake system is also the same, MagForce Z with an externally adjustable setting from 0 - 20.